Search Worlds Without End

A CHILLING VOYAGE INTO THE VAST SPACE WILDERNESS

Man, through all his history, has been a pioneering animal. He pushes relentlessly forward, drawn always to the far horizon. Now, in this time of the rocket, the greatest voyage of all is finally to be undertaken. Here, across a sea of space, men -- and women -- will chart planets in and beyond this solar system... A SEA OF SPACE.

Table of Contents:

• Editor's Preface) - essay by William F. Nolan
• The Blue Bottle (1950) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• The Wind Blows Free (1957) - novelette by Chad Oliver
• Society for the Prevention [Barnum System] (1964) - short story by Ron Goulart
• One Night Stand (1963) - short story by Herbert A. Simmons
• Elegy (1953) - short story by Charles Beaumont
• Lap of the Primitive (1958) - short story by William F. Nolan
• The Old College Try (1963) - short story by Robert Bloch
• I Am Returning (1961) - short story by Ray Russell
• The Undiscovered Country (1958) - short story by William F. Temple
• Restricted Area (1953) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• One Love Have I (1955) - short story by Robert F. Young
• Worship Night (1953) - short story by Kris Neville
• In Space with Runyon Jones (1952) - short story by Norman Corwin
• The Ties That Bind (1954) - novelette by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Table of Contents:

• 11 - Introduction: From the Other Side of the Mask
• 19 - Starblood
• 30 - Jenny Among the Zeebs
• 46 - The Joy of Living
• 60 - The Last Three Months
• 64 - The Underdweller (variant of Small World)
• 78 - Full of, Mostly, Bagels and Cream Cheese
• 83 - Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1987
• 89 - The Day the Gorf Took Over (variant of Gorf! Gorf! Gorf!)
• 102 - Happily Ever After
• 107 - Fasterfaster! (variant of The Fasterfaster Affair)
• 120 - He Kilt It with a Stick
• 126 - Toe to Tip, Tip to Toe, Pip-Pop as You Go
• 135 - The Party
• 146 - Papa's Planetn
• 150 - Solution (variant of To Serve the Ship)
• 156 - Lawbreaker (variant of Violation)
• 162 - The Mating of Thirdburt
• 180 - The Worlds of Monty Willson
• 182 - Promises to Keep: A Science Fiction Drama

Collects the renowned author's award-winning horror stories in one chilling volume that takes readers into a dark realm where nothing is what it seems and terror hides in the shadows.

Table of Contents:

• xiii - Preface (Dark Universe: Stories 1951-2001) - (2001) - essay
• xvii - Introduction (Dark Universe: Stories 1951-2001) - (2001) - essay by Christopher Conlon
• 1 - The Underdweller - (1957) - short story (variant of Small World)
• 17 - And Miles to Go Before I Sleep - (1958) - short story
• 25 - One of Those Days - (1962) - short story
• 31 - The Party - (1967) - short story
• 43 - He Kilt It with a Stick - (1968) - short story
• 51 - Violation - (1973) - short story
• 59 - Starblood - (1972) - short story
• 73 - Coincidence - (1974) - short story
• 81 - Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1987 - (1973) - short story
• 89 - Dead Call - (1976) - short story
• 95 - Saturday's Shadow - (1979) - novelette
• 117 - The Partnership - (1980) - short story
• 131 - A Real Nice Guy - (1980) - short story
• 145 - The Pool - (1981) - short story
• 157 - Lonely Train A'Comin' - (1981) - short story (variant of The Train)
• 173 - Fair Trade - (1982) - short story
• 181 - Something Nasty - (1983) - short story
• 193 - Ceremony - (1985) - novelette
• 215 - The Final Stone - (1986) - short story
• 239 - The Halloween Man - (1986) - short story
• 251 - The Yard - (1987) - short story
• 261 - My Name Is Dolly - (1987) - short story
• 267 - Major Prevue Here Tonight - (1989) - short story
• 279 - The Cure - (1988) - short story
• 297 - Stoner - (1989) - short story
• 303 - On 42nd St. - (1989) - short story
• 315 - Gobble, Gobble! - (1990) - short story
• 323 - The Francis File - (1994) - short story
• 333 - Him, Her, Them - (1991) - short story
• 351 - Babe's Laughter - (1991) - short story
• 357 - Vympyre - (1995) - short fiction
• 361 - The Visit - (1992) - short story
• 367 - The Giant Man - (1994) - short story
• 375 - On Harper's Road - (1993) - short story
• 391 - At Diamond Lake - (1994) - short story
• 401 - Boyfren - (1995) - novella (variant of Boyfriend)
• 407 - Fyodor's Law - (1994) - short story
• 419 - An Act of Violence - (1995) - short story
• 429 - A Good Day - (1997) - short story
• 437 - Freak - (2000) - short story
• 447 - Heart's Blood - (2000) - short story

As, one by one, people on train platforms begin disappearing without a trace--the victims of a phantom train--a psychotic serial killer travels through the state on a rampage of slaughter.

Table of Contents:

• 9 - About Bill Nolan (Impact-20) - (1963) - essay by Ray Bradbury
• 13 - The Small World of Lewis Stillman - (1957) - short story (variant of Small World)
• 26 - The Beautiful Doll Caper - (1956) - short story
• 30 - Into the Lion's Den - non-genre - (1956) - short story
• 37 - The Martians and the Leadfoot - (1957) - short story
• 40 - The End with No Perhaps - (1963) - short story
• 47 - The Amazon Kick - (1959) - short story
• 59 - Full Quota - (1958) - short story
• 70 - And Miles to Go Before I Sleep - (1958) - short story
• 76 - The Public Loves a Johnny - (1963) - short story
• 83 - Dutch - (1958) - short story
• 88 - Of Time and Texas - (1956) - short story
• 91 - Death Double - (1963) - short story
• 95 - Dark Encounter - (1959) - short story
• 105 - The Lap of the Primitive - (1958) - short story (variant of Lap of the Primitive)
• 118 - Nobody, That's Who - non-genre - (1963) - short story
• 123 - The Darendinger Build-Up - (1956) - short story
• 131 - Pigeon - non-genre - (1957) - short story
• 135 - The Joy of Living - (1954) - short story
• 148 - One of Those Days - (1962) - short story
• 153 - To Serve the Ship - (1963) - short story

Sherlock Holmes... Interdimensional demons... Aliens... Killers and child predators... Time travelers... Vampires... Even the end of the world, in more ways than one, all are contained within these pages. From the darkest corners of imagination to the precipice of human achievement, William F. Nolan delivers the goods in this assortment of recent works: his first all-new collection in his long and storied career.

Working with editor Jason V Brock (Milton's Children), Nolan brings to shocking life not only debauched murderers and depraved loners, but also fascinating portraits of personal reflection; the heroes of yore in poetry; pages from Nolan's notebook; and an exclusive, intimate interview with his beloved friend, the late Richard Matheson (I Am Legend).

"For ardent readers of Nolan's work, this collection is a must-have." - Hellnotes

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction: The Inner World of William F. Nolan - (2013) - essay by Jason V. Brock (variant of The Inner World of William F. Nolan)
• 19 - The Blood Countess - (2013) - novelette
• 55 - Dread Voyage - (2011) - short story
• 61 - Flight to Legend - (2013) - short story
• 69 - Getting Along Just Fine - (2009) - short story
• 77 - Exchange - (2013) - short story by Jason V. Brock and William F. Nolan
• 89 - My Girl Name Is Elly - (2013) - short story
• 95 - The Recluse - (2013) - short story
• 107 - Dysfunctional - (2013) - poem
• 111 - Descent - (2010) - short story
• 119 - Ashland - (2013) - short story
• 131 - Millikin's Machine - (2013) - short story
• 141 - The End: A Final Dialogue - (2013) - short story
• 147 - The Beach - (2013) - short story by Jason V. Brock and William F. Nolan
• 159 - A Lot Like the Joker - (2012) - short story
• 165 - A New Man - (2014) - short story
• 177 - Like a Dead Man Walking - (2013) - short story
• 197 - Goodbye, Old Pal - (2012) - essay
• 199 - Rich - (2013) - essay
• 201 - What Legends May Come: A Discussion with Richard Matheson and William F. Nolan - (2010) - interview of Richard Matheson and William F. Nolan - interview by Jason V. Brock (variant of What Dreams May Come: A Discussion with Richard Matheson and William F. Nolan 2013)
• 232 - Excerpts from the Notebooks of William F. Nolan - (2013) - short fiction

A sneak preview of horrors and glories in worlds to come.

Today's top S-F writers open the door to the future!

Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Hugh Hood, Ray Russell, Kris Neville, Walter M. Miller, Jr., Robert Sheckley, Chad Oliver, Charles E. Fritch, George Clayton Johnson, Ron Roulart ...and William F. Nolan

Fantastic, unbelievable stories of MAN AGAINST TOMORROW

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by William F. Nolan
• Special Delivery (1952) - novella by Kris Neville
• The Room (1961) - short story by Ray Russell
• After the Sirens (1960) - short story by Hugh Hood
• I, Dreamer (1953) - short story by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
• Payment in Full (1950) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• Seventh Victim [Victim] (1953) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• Birthday Present (1955) - short story by Charles E. Fritch
• Transformer (1954) - short story by Chad Oliver
• Mass for Mixed Voices (1954) - short story by Charles Beaumont
• The Freeway (1963) - short story by George Clayton Johnson
• Nobody Starves (1964) - short story by Ron Goulart
• And Miles to Go Before I Sleep (1958) - short story by William F. Nolan

In the pages of Night Shapes, containing William F. Nolan's best short fiction written over the past decade, you will encounter a ghost, a giant, a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie, a demon, a witch, a strangler, some maggots (very large), a soul-eating ghoul, an alien "feeder," three talking cats, a plant-mutant, a group of folksy cannibals, and Jack the Ripper.

Table of Contents:

• 11 - Author's Foreword (Night Shapes) - essay
• 13 - William F. Nolan: An Introduction - essay by Peter Starub
• 19 - The Party - (1967) - short story
• 33 - An Act of Violence - (1995) - short story
• 43 - My Name Is Dolly - (1987) - short story
• 49 - The Halloween Man - (1986) - short story
• 63 - Him, Her, Them - (1991) - short story
• 85 - Gobble, Gobble! - (1990) - short story
• 93 - The Visit - (1992) - short story
• 101 - On Harper's Road - (1993) - short story
• 119 - A Final Stone - (1986) - short story (variant of The Final Stone)
• 147 - The Yard - (1987) - short story
• 159 - Major Prevue Here Tonight - (1989) - short story
• 173 - Babe's Laughter - (1991) - short story
• 181 - The Visions - (1991) - short story
• 191 - On 42nd St. - (1989) - short story
• 205 - The Cure - (1988) - short story
• 229 - Stoner - (1989) - short story
• 237 - Trust Not a Man - (1984) - short story
• 253 - Ceremony - (1985) - novelette
• 277 - From a Narrow House - (1992) - short story
• 287 - The Giant Man - (1994) - short story
• 295 - The Francis File - (1994) - short story
• 307 - Special Treat - (1993) - short story
• 319 - Getting Dead - (1991) - short story
• 327 - Boyfriend - short story
• 333 - Afterword (Night Shapes) - essay by Robert Bloch
• 341 - Author's Note (Night Shapes) - essay

Collects the renowned author's award-winning horror stories in one chilling volume that takes readers into a dark realm where nothing is what it seems and terror hides in the shadows.

Table of Contents:

• 1 - Preface (Nightworlds) - essay
• 6 - Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1987 - (1973) - short story
• 18 - On 42nd St. - (1989) - short story
• 34 - The Halloween Man - (1986) - short story
• 52 - The Final Stone - (1986) - short story
• 90 - My Name Is Dolly - (1987) - short story
• 98 - The Party - (1967) - short story
• 116 - Something Nasty - (1983) - short story
• 132 - An Act of Violence - (1995) - short story
• 144 - Fyodor's Law - (1994) - short story
• 162 - On Harper's Road - (1993) - short story
• 186 - The Francis File - (1994) - short story
• 200 - Freak - (2000) - short story
• 214 - The Pool - (1981) - short story
• 232 - One of Those Days - (1962) - short story
• 240 - Him, Her, Them - (1991) - short story
• 268 - Gobble, Gobble! - (1990) - short story
• 278 - Fair Trade - (1982) - short story
• 288 - Babe's Laughter - (1991) - short story
• 298 - He Kilt It with a Stick - (1968) - short story
• 310 - Starblood - (1972) - short story
• 330 - Vympyre - (1995) - short fiction
• 336 - A Real Nice Guy - (1980) - short story

WFA nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Shadows 2 (1979), edited by Charles L. Grant. The story can also be found in the anthology Masters of Darkness (1986), edited by Dennis Etchison. It is included in the collections Things Beyond Midnight (1984), and Dark Universe: Stories 1951-2001 (2001).

A classic collection of William F. Nolan's best short stories. "In things beyond midnight the best of William F. Nolan's shock stories have been handsomely gathered and delightfully introduced by Richard Christian Matheson. Nolan delivers dread terror, macabre fun and taut suspense, reflecting keep observation and real knack for knowing what form each story should take. There isn't a loser in the lot." J. N. Willamson

Table of Contents:

• Things Beyond Midnight - interior artwork by J. K. Potter
• Introduction - essay by Richard Christian Matheson
• Author's Preface - essay
• Saturday's Shadow (1979) - novelette
• The Pool (1981) - short story
• Starblood (1972) - short story
• Into the Lion's Den (1956) - non-genre short story
• A Real Nice Guy (1980) - short story
• Death Decision (1981) - short fiction
• Fair Trade (1982) - short story
• He Kilt It with a Stick (1968) - short story
• Violation (1973) - short story
• The Partnership (1980) - short story
• Dead Call (1976) - short story
• The Underdweller (1957) - short story (variant of Small World)
• Something Nasty (1983) - short story
• Lonely Train A'Comin' (1981) - short story (variant of The Train)
• The Zurich Solution (1982) - short story
• One of Those Days (1962) - short story
• Dark Winner (1976) - short story
• Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1990 (1973) - short story
• Coincidence (1974) - short story
• The Party (teleplay) - short fiction

A collection of stories of urban ghosts and other horrors features the writing of Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, John Cheever, Fritz Leiber, Philip K. Dick, Joyce Carol Oates, and other masters.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by William F. Nolan and Martin H. Greenberg
• Smoke Ghost - (1941) - short story by Fritz Leiber
• A Careful Man Dies - (1946) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• The Tooth - (1949) - short story by Shirley Jackson
• Torch Song - (1947) - short story by John Cheever
• Prey - (1969) - short story by Richard Matheson
• The Father-Thing - (1954) - short story by Philip K. Dick
• The Jungle - (1954) - novelette by Charles Beaumont
• The Tunnel Ahead - (1961) - short story by Alice Glaser
• Did You Ever Slip on Red Blood? - (1972) - short story by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Chimney - (1977) - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• The Wine of Life - (1980) - short story by Ray Russell
• The Pool - (1981) - short story by William F. Nolan
• Talking in the Dark - (1984) - short story by Dennis Etchison
• The Litter - (1987) - short story by James Kisner
• New York Night - (1987) - short story by John Maclay
• Hell - (1987) - short story by Richard Christian Matheson
• The Shaggy House - (1986) - short story by Joe R. Lansdale
• The Book of Webster's - (1986) - novelette by J. N. Williamson

Representing the best of a 50-year writing career, these 19 short stories have been collected from the wide-ranging oeuvre of William F. Nolan. Zany tales are included, such as "Toe to Tip, Tip to Toe, Pip-Pop as You Go," in which everyone is kept in perpetual drugged states and the social deviates are those who are straight. More serious stories are also told such as "The Small World of Lewis Stillman," in which the last surviving resident of Los Angeles must conceal himself in storm sewers in order to avoid a new wave of smaller city dwellers who, although primitive, are dangerous in their numbers. Interspersed are narratives that address the emotional attachments of robots to humans, mix science fiction with the classic Wild West, and allow alien rock stars and human groupies to intermingle.

Table of Contents:

• ix - On the Run with Logan - essay
• 3 - Freak - (2000) - short story
• 10 - How Do I Know You're Real? - (2002) - short story
• 14 - Starblood - (1972) - short story
• 24 - The Joy of Living - (1954) - short story
• 37 - The Grackel Question - (1978) - short story
• 46 - The Small World of Lewis Stillman - (1957) - short story (variant of Small World)
• 58 - Jenny Among the Zeebs - (1970) - short story
• 72 - Happily Ever After - (1965) - short story
• 77 - Toe to Tip, Tip to Toe, Pip-Pop as You Go - (1970) - short story
• 85 - The Stuntman - (1963) - short story (variant of Death Double)
• 89 - Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1987 - (1973) - short story
• 95 - Papa's Planet - (1968) - short story
• 99 - And Miles to Go Before I Sleep - (1958) - short story
• 105 - Violation - (1973) - short story
• 110 - The Fasterfaster Affair - (1965) - short story
• 121 - To Serve the Ship - (1963) - short story
• 126 - The Day the Gorf Took Over - (1971) - short story (variant of Gorf! Gorf! Gorf!)
• 137 - The Mating of Thirdburt - (1974) - short story
• 153 - Lone Star Traveler - (1999) - novella

Logan's Run is a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, it depicts a dystopic ageist future society in which both population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by requiring the death of everyone reaching a particular age. The story follows the actions of Logan, a Sandman charged with enforcing the rule, as he tracks down and kills citizens who "run" from society's lethal demand—only to end up "running" himself.

Logan and Jessica have lived on Argos (the fabled Sanctuary), a space station in orbit above Mars, for four years, along with three thousand other Runners. They have a two-year-old son named Jaq.

On Earth, Ballard's escape line for Runners at Cape Steinbeck is discovered and destroyed by Deep Sleep operatives. Ballard escapes to Crazy Horse Mountain, and sabotages the Thinker complex buried in the catacombs below the statue. Although he is killed in the explosion, he succeeds in destroying the computer network and making the world free.

With Ballard's death, supply ships to Argos cease. For six more years the Runners there hang on, until there are less than a few dozen of them. They have no more food, and plague is running rampant. They draw straws-a handful will return to Earth. Logan, Jessica and Jaq are among those chosen.

Logan and family settle with a group called the Wilderness People along the Potomac River in Washington D. C. Life is tough-learning to farm is not easy-but good until Jaq falls deathly ill. Logan sneaks back into the Angeles Complex to get medicine for his son. While he is gone, an insane pack of devilstick-riding Borgia gypsies murders Jaq and kidnaps Jessica. Logan finds himself on the run again, this time to save his wife, and to avenge his murdered child.

As the story unfolds, he meets blind mystics who live on the rusted shell of the Golden Gate Bridge, he travels to the New York Complex, and finally back to Crazy Horse Mountain where he discovers the Thinker is being reactivated by Gant, a former DS man, one who passionately hates Logan for his part in destroying his world. Gant has purchased Jessica from the gypsies to lure Logan into a trap.

Mary Mary, a young woman, who as a "Cub" met Logan and Jessica on their earlier run, helps them defeat Gant's plan to reenslave mankind.

Logan is Running Again, With the Fate of the World in His Hands.

Earth is free and at peace at last. But not the Earth on which Logan stands. For him, a nightmare had just begun...

In the 23rd century on Parallel Earth, your 21st birthday is your Lastday. Parallel Earth is a dazzling paradise of artifical delight - of instant pleasure and infinite joy.

Here, in a terrifying computerized society controlled by ruthless police assassins, is the world that Logan once destroyed.

Now his fate is to live that horror once again.

Meet Sam Space...the best private eye on this or any other Earth. Trained in seventeen forms of solar combat, he can snap the trunk of a small pine tree with a double reverse dropkick... providing his shoes are on. He broke a toe once trying it barefoot. He's also a sucker for a pretty girl's sob story... even if she does have three heads. After all, numbers don't count--it's what you do with the body beneath.

And when the solar system is threatened with final destruction, the body beneath teams up with Sam on an impossible journey to the planets and across time in one of the wildest and funniest science fiction novels ever written.